Ferrari driver Felipe Massa will not let speculation over his future distract him as he prepares for Silverstone, despite persistent reports that he is set to be replaced. (Press Association)

Jenson Button is hoping for rain at Silverstone as he bids to record his first podium finish at a British Grand Prix. The 2009 world champion's best finish in the race to date is fourth.Full story: Daily Express

Formula 1's governing body, the FIA, has announced that there will only be one DRS zone at Silverstone. It will be positioned from just after turn four to include the turn five kink and the Wellington straight on the run down to Brooklands. Full story: ESPN F1

Red Bull's championship leader Sebastian Vettel says his victory salute, where he thrusts his index finger skywards, is not a sign of arrogance or ruthless self-belief.Full story: The Times (subscription required)

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone is hopeful South Africa can make a return to the grand prix calendar. A deal could be signed within weeks which would see Cape Town added to the schedule. The last race to be held in the country was in 1993, when Alain Prost won at Kyalami for Williams.Full story: Daily Express

No, it looks like even they aren’t foolish enough to try the British GP in Spain. It looks like you need a new source. The info looks bad across the board. Course lenght wrong, wrong winner - Vettel won the pole, not the race, wrong number of laps....

Don’t worry. I understand. As race day approaches, all the blood goes to your little head and you don’t think as clearly. You just want beer, ethanol, motor fumes and loud noise. Perfectly understandable.

Silverstone is a fun course to run on. Its got some tricky corners. The last two prior to the grandstand are particularly ornary.

Silverstone has some significant terrain to deal with, e.g., between Club & Priory. In between The Bridge & Priory its downhill and very bumpy. Gotta have the setup dialed in correctly to enter Brooklands correctly; car has to be able to handle the roll for the hard left entry to Brooklands followed by the very hard right through Luffield.

If the set-up aint right, you'll burn up the tires.

Given the significant elevation changes on various parts of the course, gearing is critical also. Coming out of Abbey and you're climing 20' easily.

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh has questioned the supposed disparity in terms of the new off-throttle blown diffuser regulations introduced ahead of this weekend's British Grand Prix, explaining that engine supplier Renault has successfully negotiated with the FIA in order to limit the damage of the sport's newest ruling.

It has been revealed that reigning Champions Red Bull have been allowed to keep throttle levels at 50 percent under braking with their engine units, 30 percent more than universally agreed when the cut-back was outlined earlier in the season.

"We learnt half-way through the session that Christian (Horner) hadnt lost as much as we expected as obviously the rules are slightly fluid and appear to change by the hour at the moment, so we are still learning is the answer," Whitmarsh explained during the Friday press conference at the newly refurbished Silverstone circuit.

"I think the expectation is that when you are off the throttle the engine throttles would be closed but there has been a negotiation and as I understand Renaults throttles are 50 percent open under braking and I think that is probably not what most of us expected coming into this event.

"Thats been a little bit of a revelation that we gathered during the course of the sessions today and we are trying to understand what we have to do."

However, Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner responded to the comments made by Whitmarsh and believes the FIA has reacted to the 'very complex situation' in a fair manner, making allowances for individual engine manufacturers.

"Martins interpretation is interesting," Horner said. "There has been a series of technical directives that have happened since Valencia and the latest technical directive is quite clear in that engines that have been run in previous configurations the FIA would take into account on an equitable basis.

"I think there was an expectation that coming here obviously a lot of focus has been placed on Red Bull. Do Red Bull have a silver bullet ion their car? We dont but at the same time we expect the FIA to regulate in a fair and proper manner and thats exactly what they have done in this case. They are the only ones with all the facts. They are the only ones with the data and they have looked at it."

In Renaults case, the main factor behind the FIAs allowance is reliability-related, with the engine manufacturer concerned about the race-long effects of the rule changes.

"They have listened to Mercedes case and allowed Mercedes certain parameters. They have looked at Renaults case and they have allowed certain parameters based on an historical content, if you like, on what is a very, very complex subject.

"It perhaps would have been better dealt with at the end of the season, when the exhausts move to a completely different location which will remove an awful lot of the emotion that seems to surround this topic."

The announcers just said Trulli was pulled over becasue of an engine oil leak. The announcers were questioning Why? They're makin' allegations that something having to do with the new diffuser rule caused the exhaust valves to fail, i.e., threw a valve-stem.

Fernando Alonso has won Ferraris first race of 2011 by triumphing in Sundays British Grand Prix at Silverstone. After suffering a pit-stop problem, Sebastian Vettel finished second as Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber was instructed to stay behind. In fourth, McLarens Lewis Hamilton narrowly defended from Felipe Massa at the finish as Jenson Button retired due to a lost wheel nut.

To no great surprise of drivers or spectators, the weather looked to play the greatest role prior to the start of the race. As the cars made their ways from pit lane to grid, it was discovered that the start/finish area was relatively dry whereas the far side of the circuit contained much standing water. This prompted the field to fit Intermediate Pirelli tyres as the race started from the new International Pits Straight for the first time.

With Webber suffering some wheel spin, it was Vettel who blasted ahead of the pack en route to Abbey. Behind, Alonso challenged Webber as Hamilton shot from tenth to seventh, then seizing sixth from compatriot Paul di Restas Force India on the drag to Stowe. It was a miserable day for Lotus, though, with Heikki Kovalainen retiring on only the second tour after losing fourth gear; several laps later, team-mate Jarno Trulli was also out of action.

As Vettel extended his leading advantage to some three and a half seconds, looking to repeat his Silverstone victory of 2009, Hamilton proceeded to challenge the Ferrari of Felipe Massa for fifth but twice ran wide and lost ground at Brooklands. At the same part of track on Lap 9, Michael Schumachers Mercedes hit the Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi, resulting in a stop/go penalty for the seven-time World Champion. The Japanese  who had been pushed into a spin and lost two positions - soon retired from the race as his engine overheated, but only after more contact in the pit lane with Pastor Maldonados Williams.

Having rejoined in the lead after his first stop, it was Vettels Lap 27 pit lane visit which brought trouble, as the Germans left-rear wheel was not fitted quickly enough. With the Red Bull left standing, this left Alonso free to sail past before posting a string of rapid laps which took the lead up to 20 seconds at its peak. Further back, after jumping Hamilton at the third and final round of stops, Vettel began to fall into the clutches of Webber in the closing stages, with the Australian being told to hold position on the final two laps in a bid to avoid a collision such as that in Turkey last year. Although the latter refused to accept the request, there was no change of places.

There was a similar dual between Hamilton and Massa, with the Brazilian passing the Englishman around the outside of Vale on the final lap, only for the 2008 winner to retake the place as the Ferrari driver came close to losing control; the pair eventually crossed the finish line in fourth and fifth slots, separated by less than a tenth of a second.

The day proved frustrating for home favourites McLaren, though. Not only did Hamilton nurse his car to the chequered flag in order to save fuel, which only aided Webbers pass for third on Lap 46, but Jenson Buttons chances of a first home podium finish evaporated on Lap 40, stopping in the pit lane exit as his right-front wheel came loose with no wheel nut attached  this non-finish drops the 2009 Champion from second to fifth in the Drivers Championship.

It was a similarly difficult day for Scotlands Paul di Resta. After starting from a superb sixth place for Force India, the DTM title holder was left waiting in the pits after his team almost fitted the tyres of team-mate Adrian Sutil. The West Lothian man then damaged his front wing after contact with Toro Rossos Sébastien Buemi, who stopped at Chapel curve with a punctured left-rear tyre.

In fifth, 2010 rostrum finisher Nico Rosbergs race included a pass on Pastor Maldonado  overtaking a car around the outside of Brooklands for the second consecutive year  on his way to sixth place ahead of Saubers Sergio Pérez (who came back from a pre-race off and broken front wing) and Renaults Nick Heidfeld. As Schumacher recovered from his penalty for ninth, Jaime Alguersuari picked up a points result for the third consecutive race. At the back, Hispania debutant Daniel Ricciardo endured a tough day to finish a lap behind team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Fernando Alonsos 27th career victory is his second at Silverstone, where he first won for Renault in 2006. The figure moves the Spaniard to joint fifth in the sports records with triple Champion Jackie Stewart and up to third in the current 2011 standings.

Vettel sets fastest time on Top Gear

Although he may not have won the British Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel can leave England happy after beating a selection of fellow Formula 1 personalities on Top Gears Star in a Reasonably Priced Car. Having driven his best lap on Wednesday, the episode was aired by the BBC on Sunday night.

On the evening after last years British Grand Prix, it was Williams Rubens Barrichello who proudly Beat the Stig and later designed several t-shirts to emphasise the fact. Tonight, it was the World Champions turn to step into the Suzuki Liana.

Following the customary chat with presenter Jeremy Clarkson, Vettels lap time was revealed as 1:44.0 (three tenths quicker than Barrichello), much to the delight of the German who also delivered a Birmingham accent.

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